After downloading the karafun player from www.karafun.com, please install it.

When u first use the karafun player,

- click the spanner icon to open Settings

- Click the Display tab.

- In the first drop-down menu, select option Block With Bouncing Ball

Tadaaaaa! Now you r all set to go!

You can slow down the tempo by

- playing a file and then

- clicking the arrows at upper right portion of the screen.

- (You can even vary the key to suit your own natural voice pitch)

I humbly recommend start with a speed of -20% (especially when doing group recitation..maybe -30/35% for chapter 11!) [For group recitation i find using the PDF SLIDESHOW on a big screen plus the slowed down audio from the karaoke the best visual on a large screen...]

Once u start playing a track,

- double click anywhere in the video and it will become fullscreen.

- Double click again or hit Esc to return to the player)

{con't below}

>>> [INSERT....HOW TO MAKE A PLAYLIST IN KARAFUN]

(For contunuous play of all chapters,

- please drag and drop the whole folder of kfn files into the player

- then open that folder in the bottom left panel of the player

- then select all the kfn files and drop them on the PLAYLIST/NEW PLAYLIST which u can name Singalong Gita.

- correct sequence is: Invocations (presently kfn version is missing...use the mp3 version please), then Gita Dhyanam, Then all 18 chapters, Then Gita Mahatmyam,

- Then sing and dance Hare Krsna till you drop! ;-) Haribol!

GITA SINGING KI...JAYA... GITA JAYANTI KI....JAYA!

- To play the new playlist, right click the name of the playlist and select play

- Unfortunately it seems the tempo resets to Zero at the start of each chapter so you will have to manually change it to your desired speed..

- There is a settings option to start each track in paused mode...that may help avoid unexpected starts at the wrong tempo...

- One can easily PLAY / PAUSE a track simply by tapping the space bar!!

Devotees can sing hare krsna in the same tune / 'vasudeva sutam devam..' between chapters till the settings are done for the next chapter and that will keep up the mood and tempo of the mass singing event!)

<<<

{con't}

How To Go Further: A Practice Plan To Polish One's Skills & Understanding:-

Once you have mastered a chapter, increase the tempo as far as you can comfortably go...you will relish the absorption it brings...

Then next step is to contemplate the word by word meanings from the Gita as we sing the tracks. This is easily accomplished by:

(1) memorize a chapter say ch 12 / 15 by singing daily ....only 7-10 mins per day..after 2-3 wks it will be almost learnt by heart.... Remember Mother Sarasvati is not only the Goddess of Learning but of Music too cos music is the best form of education.....

(2) use a highlight marker to highlight the sanskrt words in the Word By Word of Srila Prabhupada's wonderful Bhagavad Gita As It Is (original version recommended....free downloads in many formats at www.krishnapath.org)

(3) Next step.. Play the karaoke track v slowly..maybe at a speed of -30/35% ..and sing along by reading from the word by word meanings which u have highlighted... (you will soon learn to predict sandhis i.e. how worda are joined togethwr most naturally and perfectly in Sanskrit!)

After a week of this, you shd try to highlight the translations by breaking them into phrases...or u cd use my English Gita which is already split into phrases approximately (unfortunately i made it not using the original version...maybe in future will re-do it) you can find it online at scribd.com.)

Prabhu, the above sequence will work for anyone...they just have to change/customize the time frame or speed to suit their own pace ..there is no rush....only pure, absorbing ENGAGEMENT IN Swadhyaaya=self-study of shastra) The end result is...we can fill up many thousands of hours of the rest of our lives like this WITHOUT HAVING ANY FEAR OF SANSKRIT GRAMMAR (the same way a child learns a language...just by deducing its meaning through constant usage) and thus we may be Simply Absorbed in Krsna consciousness...then we may realize WHY Srila Prabhupada and his Gurudev took so much pains to put their books in such elaborate formats: devanagari sloka; followed by Romanized version with accurate diacritics; followed by elaborate word by word contextual meanings; followed by a translation of the verse and finally, an enlightening Purport for each and every verse!

Being absorbed in reading, reciting, studying, memorizing or simply singing shastra is our best insurance against old age and senility!

To be able to sing these verses and analyse their word by word meaning and then contemplate the connection between each line and the next, and later on, contemplate the connection between each verse and the next...and eventually, each chapter and the next...and The Gita will be flowing in our veins!!

If we don't know how to pass hours in the pages of Gita/Srimad Bhagavatam, boredom will kill us in oir invalid old age... All glories to Srila Prabhupada's wonderful books which he wanted us to study for two hours minimum every day...after all, he laboured so hard to give us his Ecstatic Bhaktivedanta Purports so plushly bound, did he not? Jaya Srila Prabhupada! All glories to his divine books!

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation and encouragement... All credit for the above sequence is due to my siksha guru the late HH Srila Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj of Iskcon London/Dwaraka who inspired me to sing slokas and who taught me the MRTR formula..

{ A short explanation of 'MRTR' can be found in the Front Matter of my book Vraja Riti Cintamani which is my mere presentation of the slokas by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur and translations of HG Kusakratha Prabhu presented in my Simplified Romanized Sanskrit format. (please look for the audio or pdf format of the book from the links on www.tiny.cc/indexdina Hard copy of the book available from the Publisher Sanjay Agrawal whose shop is the very last shop on the right at the v. end of Loi Bazaar, Vrndavan, just for the record!) }

All credit for seeing the uniting power Gita Jayanti has goes to my beloved Gurudev Srila Bhaktisvarup Damodar Swami, who urged me to teach Simplified Romanized Sanskrit & to spread Gita Jayanti&Singing internationally! Without his vision, blessings and inspiration, this wretched sinful animal could have done nothing at all for Mother Gita. It is all his mercy. Please help me distribute that mercy, i humbly beg you...

Hare Krsna. Please do your part to master the skills and share the resources within your personal spheres of influence and help us make Gita singing a skill everyone has, and Gita Jayanti, a holy day everyone observes meaningfully! Hari hari bol!!!!!

Yr humble servant

in the sacred service of sri guru and sri gauranga,

dina

GITA KARAOKE FORMAT FILES FOR DOWNLOADING -

Download the karaoke format (.kfn) files WITH AUDIO EMBEDDED from these pages:

Download this FREE karaoke player in order to play the '.kfn' files and sing the entire Gita in karaoke formatView

This is the amazing FREEE Karaoke Fun software - download it for free. Very easy-to-follow step-by-step guide on how to make your own karaoke here: http://www.karafun.com/karaokeplayer/makekaraoke0karafun_en.html Download and install this software to play all files ending with " .kfn " and enthuse your kids to singalong the Bhagavad Gita!

This is the free Karafun software Dec 25th 2014.
Just download it, then right click the file and RENAME it by adding a dot like this: karafunplayer_2.1.32.172.exe Then double click the file to install the software in your computer.

Here is a low quality video sample (hosted on www.vimeo.com) of what it will look like - it is very poor quality, but just to give an idea of what you will see.
If you download the KaraFun software then download the two singalong files, you'll see it in high quality, and you can change the key (musical scale) and speed (tempo) to sing along. Happy Gītā singing!